《Universe Down》 Chapter 0 - 999,999,999 Galaxias Calendar Year 485607728912, Month 11, Day 12 10 minutes before the Era of Hope Flame Region, Quadrant C, Universal Coordinates: 833.00082, 2291.70304 ¡°Drain the hope from your souls, my grand mages! Today is the day that we will all fall, to bring about the chance of survival to the next universe!¡± Ranks upon ranks of creatures of all shapes and sizes lined the infinite blackness of the spatial sky. All wore silver armour glimmering with golden lining weaved into an unknown language, with only their faces exposed to the grand vacuum. Around them, intricate constructions, glass shapes with many edges and countless lines within that could only have been born of nature surrounded the raging winds that emanated from their presence. But even this sight, one that could inspire dread in any planet¡¯s civilization, paled before the scintillant orb of pink, liquidated metal floating but a scant few light-seconds away. The immovable blackness of space cracked beneath its weight, revealing white scars amongst its infinite length. Inside, a faint winged figure could be seen, and even the vacuum of space could not dampen the horrid, pained screaming emanating from it. Whatever this creature was doing, it was clearly involuntary. ¡°We face Master Hope! I know you all greatly respect him and have hope in his power, but keep those thoughts out of your heads! The stronger Master Hope is, the faster we all die!¡± ¡°RYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡± The ranks of creatures roared in unison, fires of terror in their eyes. They knew in their hearts that this day, they would all die. Far from this scene, in a grandiose mansion floating through space, there were 6 figures convened around a table. 4 were vaguely humanoid, and the remaining two more closely resembled beasts, a drake and wyvern respectively. One of the humanoids, 3 metres in height, stocky and masculine with short black hair, yet fragile and graceful with soft pale skin, emblazoned with clearly militaristic badges amongst the traditional robes it wore, spoke out with a grave tone, ¡°Time, Life and Radiance, Fire, Judgement. Hope¡¯s magic is finally starting to pour out without end. My Galaxias Barrier is about to fall.¡± ¡°The Galaxias Barrier is about to fall? But it''s meant to be invincible, even I couldn¡¯t break past it when in a quasi-13th state, are you 1000% sure?¡± This outburst came from the wyvern, whose orange eyes and bright red scales clearly betrayed it as the Fire mentioned earlier. ¡°Fire, if Infinity has stated as such, it is true. You think the universal king would lie when his kingdom is in jeopardy?" A long, purple-haired humanoid spoke this time, with withered skin and a short stature. ¡°Let the lass cry out, Time. Our universe is about to crumble regardless. We can¡¯t stop Hope, not anymore.¡± The dark scaled dragon let out, with a gruff voice and the light of life gone from its eyes. ¡°We still have our mission given by the Highest Mage, don¡¯t forget. Judgement, you will still help, yes?¡± On closer inspection, the two remaining humanoids were a single body, one with green hair and the other gold, Life and Radiance. Infinity spoke out again, ¡°Time, we cannot delay any longer.¡± Time let out a huff, and the active air around them seemed to freeze up. ¡°This still isn¡¯t a perfect spell, you know. The Highest Mage may be a master of Light magic rather than Time, but even he must understand that I won¡¯t be able to send this message perfectly intact.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°They know.¡± ¡°Good. Then, let''s begin.¡± As its speech ended, purple lines began to scatter themselves throughout the sky, covering an incredible distance, as the stagnant air began to even crystallise. The humanoid¡¯s skin clearly began to wither even more with every purple line that appeared. It began to murmur a chant beneath its breath, ¡°Yel¡¯k?yet, Am Ihul¡­¡± Back in the pink metal orb, the winged man named Hope could barely keep his eyes open as his jaw stretched to almost unnatural lengths to let out screams. Around him, bolts of white flame continuously ate away at the metal. ¡±I don¡¯t want this, not this, why will my magic not LISTEN!¡± With every scream, another thousand thousand bolts of white flame would fire out, and it was but a few moments before the barrier exploded into a brilliant supernova. White cracks spread throughout the universe almost instantly, staining the skies of planets both during day and night, cutting suns in two and wiping whole galaxies off the map. ¡°Hunio, Yel Umus Vuciro Ama¡­¡± With every word, more and more of the lines began to join together, and the creature began to break down. ¡°Hurry it up, Time!¡± ¡°Yel Gdis, Am Yel Umus¡­¡± ¡°Vuciro Yel¡¯K?yet¡­¡± ¡°Vuciro!¡± At the end of its words, the purple lines all connected together into a tiny mirror as it crumbled into dust, only reflecting Infinity. Life and Radiance flipped their body to face the group, ¡°Everyone! We can mourn Time later, shatter your seals and keep it running! If this spell ends before our message is complete, we¡¯ll have failed the next world!¡± The remaining 4, besides Infinity, had a different type of air emanate from them - Blazing hot air from the Fire, a heavy dark air from Judgement, an air dancing with boundless energy from Life, and a bright air that could be seen with the naked eye flew from Radiance. As the white cracks infesting the universe pierced the mansion, Infinity stood in front of the mirror. ¡°This is a message sent with the sacrifice of 10 novemdecillion creatures, who all poured their lives into devising this spell. To the universe of the future, we can only bring you these few words, such that you will not crumble like my Galaxias Kingdom. In time, you will come to understand magic, Aspects, and the countless races that will span your universe. Many of you will have great power, many more without. There will be countless kingdoms, and countless slaughters. I cannot give specifics, for future-sight is not possible for us. However, I do trust that this message shall reach the one best suited to bring you all to prosperity. There will come a day where one of the many you trust will betray you, not by their will, but by the circumstances of their birth. For us, it was our poor Hope, and for the ones before us, their Hope. Though we are yet to uncover the truth, simply knowing that your Hope will be the cause of your destruction shall bring you closer than ever before. Trust in the Highest Mage, he can and will guide you to our realm. Perhaps, in time, one of you may make it to his. Beware the Nullforce, those white cracks surrounding me, and the destruction it can wreak, do not attempt to harvest its power in any way. That is all I can tell you without fraying the fabric of your Infinity. We wish you luck in our deaths.¡± And with a scream that pierced any distance, all the universe went white. Chapter 1 - Hylimdem ¡±Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhhh!¡± On a cloudy night, when the triplet moons of the planet Anosha hung like a chandelier in the centre of the sky, a city not unlike any other found itself devoid of life in an instant. No sound to be heard, no creatures to be seen, only the roiling winds surrounding a grey-skinned humanoid making any disturbance in the environment. Its face betrayed its rage, scrunched up to the point where it barely seemed like it could go any further. Towards the skies, it roared, and myriad strikes of lightning crashed onto the city walls, ¡°Bunali ahm, Dransis. Bunali! Ahm! Unsui¡¯ahm set!¡± Its words were heard by none, but were clearly directed at some manner of creature. Perhaps it was a grudge built over centuries, but regardless, its rage had been subjected unto people uninvolved in the matter. With a wave of its arm like a conductor directing its orchestra, the air itself crystallised and was flung at the buildings around it, bringing the city ever closer to a state of rubble. More and more of the city crumbled, as the creature clawed its arms at the air wildly in its murderous frenzy. ¡°Bunali¡­ ahm¡­¡± With every swing of its arms, the amount of buildings that fell lessened and lessened, and its body grew more hunched and haggard. The air around it calmed from hurricane-force winds to a calm breeze, as it slumped and started mindlessly walking. In the centre of the city, where a grand town square once was, a mountain of fresh bodies young and old laid. There was no discrimination in the slaughter. With heavier steps than its body should allow, it climbed up the stairs of flesh. With every step, a crunch or a squelch rang out into the silent city, which looked more like a distinctly overprotected quarry now that only the grandiose walls remained. Upon reaching the peak, the creature fell into the mound of flesh, laying on top with its back exposed to the sun. Its mouth still moved, making the same shapes over and over. Even as life drained from its already grey eyes, until the very last moment before it could not move anymore, it kept cursing at the one who wronged it. Days passed, and the triplet moons separated once more, signifying the coming of a new season. Snow fell across the northern reaches of Anosha, and with the cold desolation came Haulers, brave souls who carried resources from city to city to ensure the continuation of as many lives as possible. Not many travellers came to the city of Silah, besides a band of three Haulers who belonged to the Northern Survival Troupe. Pale of skin and with golden-haired, the three men looked closer to triplets than the moons which hung above their heads, but their heights and facial structures betrayed their differing heritages. Footsteps trailed behind them for many miles, though the large backpacks they wore left greater trails still. Within contained supplies for 2 cycles of the triplet moons, all intended for the city of Silah. ¡°Just two minutes out now chaps, we¡¯ll be seeing them sweet walls o¡¯ Silah as soon as we cross this corner,¡± the taller of the men shouted with a grand guffaw. ¡°Aye boss!¡± The other two men yelled at the same time, as if rehearsed previously. They trudged on for a short while longer, and turned the icy corner which hid Silah away from the world. And then, with the light thud of backpacks hitting the ground, ¡°B-boss, is Si-ilah meant to be¡­ that?¡± ¡°Haaahh¡­ nay, kid. Looks like it''s been hit by a Lyi.¡± ¡°Y-y-y-you¡¯re jokin¡¯, right?¡± ¡°Stench of burnt corpses in the air, everything but walls rubble, and a big fat mound of¡­ whatever that is in the centre? All the signs point to one.¡± ¡°It ain¡¯t still there, right boss?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry yaself, lad. It¡¯ll have been killed or eaten by now. They run out of steam mighty fast.¡± ¡°T-t-that¡¯s good, t¡¯en. Stay safe, Boss Kilki¡± The shorter, more muscular of the men picked up his pack, and trudged towards the city, though his two comrades stayed behind. In scenarios like this, it was standard procedure for the leader of the group to investigate first, to ensure the safety of their juniors. Crunch, crunch, crunch. The snow under Kilki¡¯s feet cracked as he walked forwards through the dilapidated city gates. Howling of myriad predators rang out throughout the city, but none seemed to approach him. The central street still had a stifling wind about it, and those predators could likely feel what the beast which came before them was capable of. Kilki swung his head around as he wandered through the city, and towards its centre. This wasn¡¯t the first situation like this he¡¯d had to deal with- Lyi weren¡¯t an uncommon predator to the Northern Survival Troupe, despite their seemingly infrequent attacks. First step of investigating a Lyi attack: check on the corpse mound in the centre. This sure is alot bigger than the last attack I investigated¡­ 30,000, no, at least 40,000 corpses on there. Tough climb. Though Kilki complained internally, he grabbed out at the pile of rotting corpses and began his climb up. With the freezing temperatures the corpses managed to retain a surprisingly good amount of solidity, despite their rotting state. It took little longer than 5 minutes for him to reach the plateau, upon which a bare figure spoiled by wounds and a layer of solidified blood laid, clearly not like the rest. Someone¡¯s alive? Nay¡­ that¡¯s not an Anshoran¡­ it¡¯s not a Lyi, that¡¯s for sure. Should get it to shelter and get it clothed, atleast. It may be alien to me, but it''s clearly a victim here too. With a harumph, Kilki picked up the creature, but dropped it again almost immediately and spoke spontaneously, ¡°Wings? Yer mother a bird or something? Don¡¯t recognise the golden hue aye, but if anything about you is unusual, those definitely are. How am I meant to clothe a thing with wings? Nothing will fit you, little creature. Aii¡­ it''s not your fault. I¡¯ll find ya something.¡± With his surprise passing, he picked up the winged creature once more and hauled it over his shoulder, beginning his walk back down the fleshy mound. The first step was complete, though having a single survivor was unusual for an attack like this. Second step, establish the type of Lyi that invaded. Based on the stifling air, Kilki knew it was a magic-type Lyi, the most common of them. Scorch marks on the ground betrayed either Lightning or Fire types of magic and if it was previously a Mage it assuredly knew Force. That was all he could glean, being a Lord himself, rather than a Mage. The third step was not an art he could perform, nor could the rest of his travelling band. Besides, he had an unusual creature completely knocked out on his shoulders, and the species research division would need to look into it first before any progress could really be made in the now ruined city of Silah ¡±Treshna, Hylimdem?¡±¡±What is this?¡± ¡±Ajio¡­ Dransis. Juni ata undeta.¡± ¡±Where am I?¡± ¡±Unsui¡¯amo tes. Kia¡¯ra.¡± ¡±Who¡¯s voices are these?¡± ¡±Ti, oiamo.¡± ¡±Why does Hylimdem sound familiar?¡± ¡±Nresa?¡± ¡±Who am I?¡± ¡°Un¡­ kalao esamo.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡±What am I?¡± ¡°Hahahah, utamo, utamo!¡± "When will this st-¡± As if just a dream, it opened its eyes. A bright light shone into its eyes from the roof above, bringing a stinging sensation; one it couldn¡¯t stand. Swiftly sitting up, it took a glance around the room in which it had woken up in, one that was distinctly unfamiliar. Not that anything would be familiar to it, considering it didn¡¯t even know what it was. What it did know was that it was cold, and it stayed tightly wrapped in the blanket in which it had woken up. No¡­ it wasn¡¯t cold. Though it was shivering, it could tell that it was a totally different sensation. One born of a genetic response, though it couldn¡¯t quite figure out what was causing it. It being alone didn¡¯t feel like the right answer, and neither did the lack of knowledge seem to affect it. Though, maybe it¡¯d be best to figure that out later, and figure itself out first. Letting the blanket slip off as it got up from the metal-framed bed, it wandered up to a mirror. Before it had got up, it faintly seemed to be able to see the room in reverse through this reflective surface, so perhaps it would be able to figure out what it was? Sure enough, upon walking up to the mirror, it could see itself, confirmed by outstretching its hand and watching the reflection mimic the action. Sheet white skin, almost the same colour as the walls around it if just barely a bit more tanned, contrasted by the long brunette hair that ran down to the small wings sprouting from its lower back; whose feathers seemed to match the colour of the hair. Large, regal purple eyes traced up and down its body, which seemed like it was completely featureless besides that it was soft to the touch - it was practically just a blank slate. Pointing out from the sides of its round face were a pair of long and sharp ears, decorated by two arrowhead-shaped holes each and lightly swaying up and down in a manner filled with curiosity. ¡±This is¡­ me? But who am I? What am I?¡± It spoke aloud with a voice that could only be described as soft and euphonious. ¡±Do I¡­ have a name?¡± Its mind raced, trying to recall anything from before this room, but all it could remember was the short conversation in a foreign language it had heard before it woke up. The only thing that seemed vaguely familiar to it was the name Hylimdem, perhaps what it had been known by before it had woken up here? For now, it decided to adopt that name. But it no longer had time to think for itself - a knock rang out on the door that led into the room. Without waiting for an answer, another thing that looked somewhat like it stumbled into the room; clearly it was in a massive rush. Hylimdem stared at the creature, comparing it to itself; a more whitish hair colour and smaller, lacking the wings but also having strange, flowy black and white skin much unlike its own. Backing up from this unknown entity, Hylimdem pushed itself against a wall, to try and get as far away as possible. But the creature didn¡¯t seem to want to harm it; rather, it spoke, ¡°H-hello, I¡¯m sure you must be v-v-very confused right now. We heard your questions j-j-j-just from the room over, can you understand me well? Do you want me to slow down? I am called Hovi, I am an Anshoran, female, and I work as an unknown species research specialist which is USRS for short, at a group called the N-Northern Survival Troupe which is NST for short. We¡¯ve c-currently taken the liberty of naming you Mina, which is our way of saying magnificent, but do you have a different preference?¡± Hylimdem looked curiously at the Anshoran that called herself Hovi. She spoke much faster than it had expected, as compared to how it barely managed to eke out a sentence or two in the time it had taken her to speak 5 much longer ones. Mina was what she called it, but it had a distinct dislike for the name - it much preferred the one it had found itself. ¡°Mina... no, I like¡­ Hylimdem. That¡­ that is my name.¡± Upon Hylimdem speaking, Hovi¡¯s bright blue eyes noticeably widened and lit up, and she produced a small white box with a thin but long blue device that she pushed against the box. She seemed to noticeably calm down when it had spoken to her in a language she understood. ¡°Hy¡­ lim¡­ dem. I wonder what it means, it¡¯s so much different than any name here! I¡¯m glad you understand me, Hylimdem.¡± "You''re speaking Kingslanguage. It''s only natural I wou- how... how do I know that? How do I know what Kingslanguage is? I... I..." Hylimdem''s face lightly scrunched in confusion, it''s pointed ears drooping slightly downwards. "Hovi... how much of my past before this room do you know?" Hovi''s incandescent expression of happiness slowly faded into one of melancholy, "We know nothing besides that we found you in the city of Silah, which had its Anshoran population totally annihilated by a Magical Beast we refer to as a Lyi. You were... the only thing alive that even slightly resembled us. Kingslanguage is a common tongue in this region though, perhaps you heard it somewhere before this." "I see... do you... no, if you didn''t recognize my name, you won''t recognise the other words that were in my head... " "Likely not, no. We shouldn''t dwell on your past right now, Hylimdem, not until we both understand more about you. Do you know what I mean by that?" "Yes... yes I do. Please, take me where you need t-" "We don''t need to go anywhere for now. Do you remember the bed you woke up on? Would you mind taking a seat on that? Hylimdem''s face went through a variety of expressions, ranging from deep sadness to utter confusion, before it settled on a straight face once more. It nodded at Hovi, taking a seat on the bed once more. The Anshoran laid down the white box, keeping the long blue device in her hands, "Would you be able to track this pen with your eyes please?" "Pen... okay." Moving the pen from left to right, back and forth, infront and behind of the winged Hylimdem, Hovi nodded to herself. Picking the box back up, she pushed the pen into it once more to keep track of whatever results she had gleaned from the little test. "So, Hylimdem, you''re sentient, have good eyesight and can track things, and it seems you can hear well enough. Would you mind if I run a few tests on those wings and ears of yours, also? They seem to be your biggest difference from us, so we need to understand them." Another nod, another set of tests. Rinse and repeat, this lasted for no less than 50 unique tests. By the end of it all, Hovi looked incredibly tired, but inquisitiveness still lived on in her half-shut eyes. On the contrary, Hylimdem hadn''t changed in the slightest, still sat on the bed with the same blank expression as before, and still lightly shivering every few minutes. "So, to summarize... you''re a uniquely resistant being. Your skin and hair are both hard to damage, and those wings of yours barely even move an inch; though, you''re just a tiny bit more resistant than us. It''s a good thing, you won''t really get any scrapes or bruises as you move around, but that''s about all that''ll get you. You are incredibly light, however, so be careful around anything heavy. Those ears of yours definitely serve a purpose in making your hearing alot better, though I''d recommend covering them when you get a chance based on the reaction you had to their being touch. Not sure what the holes in them are for, but that might be something that comes about as you mature a little more." Hylimdem''s eyes fluttered, looking up at Hovi with a bit of curiosity, "Mature?" "Yes, based on the tests... you''re only a week or so old. And since we found you four days ago, and the Lyi attack has been assumed to happen around eight, its a bit of an enigma. You also don''t seem to be made of the same stuff as us, flesh and bone. Rather, you''re much more... Magical in nature. On my assumption I''d think that you were born, if that word is even applicable to you, when the Lyi that attacked Silah collapsed and the remnant Magic laid dormant in it spread into nature. It''d explain why you''re so fragile as compared to other Magic creatures, and why your skin is much less... static than theirs. Though, we still don''t understand the purpose of your wings... they''re immovable. Perhaps they''re just aesthetic to your race, but as with those holes in your ears, maybe they''ll be usable as you grow older. Ah, we''ll have to determine a name for your race, after we find out more about what you can do. We''ll need to declare some more personal things about you too, in time. Like your sex, there''s... really no way to figure that one out for you. " She lightly sighed, having said her piece. Lightly dropping her hand onto Hylimdem''s shoulder, she used her other to ruffle its rough, brown hair. "But, we''re all done for today. You can rest now, and we''ll get you cleaned up properly tomorrow. Besides, we need time to get some clothing fit to you, especially with those wings of yours. They''ll be a bit of a challenge for our tailors, but we have the measurements at their base. I''ll make sure they make one that''s tighter around them and one that''s looser to find which best suits you, okay? I''ll see you tomorrow, whenever you wake up." With that, Hovi left the inexpressive Hylimdem to its whims, and closed the door behind her. With a sigh, she nearly collapsed outside the door, pushing up her hair at the sides of her head. She knew very well what that creature was, but in some way, she knew it was different. Taking a look at her notes, she hung her head high after taking a moment to herself, and brought herself back to her feet. After a minute or so of walking, she entered a room that had a one-way view into the room storing Hylimdem. The creature was laid in its bed now, clearly trying to get some sleep under the warm blanket they had provided. Besides her in the room, 3 other researchers looked at her with a mortified expression whilst a man in militaristic garb stood watching the creature with an unwavering glare. "So, you mean to tell us that Hylimdem is the result of a Lyi fulfilling its desire? That it''s part of their natural lifecycle? That can''t be, it''s so... passive? And all of its Mage tests came back full negative, it can''t use Magic in any proper capacity besides maintaining itself." "Yes, Hasha, it''s the lifeform birthed from the death of a Lyi. But we have nothing to worry about, it doesn''t want to hurt anyone. If anything, it''s just confused. It knows Kingslanguage, at the very least, though it doesn''t seem to understand much else. Perhaps in the process from Lyi to... Hylimdem, they lose all their memories, but retain knowledge of communication, Magical maintenance and basic movement. It seems like all that species needs to survive on its own, considering how it seems unaffected by lack of drink and food. I''m the one who talked to it for 7 hours, I may as well be the leading researcher in its species." "Y''reckon it''ll come to learn Espiology, Hovi?" "Seems resistant enough to be a Lord, too" "It''s, by all classifications, a Magical Beast, Gezo. I''d be surprised if it couldn''t learn it. And it does have very strong skin, Loc. So, we have a potential strong Magelord on our hands." "A Magelord, you say, researcher? Those are rare soldiers." The militaristic man had a grin on his face, clearly betraying his thoughts of wanting to use the creature as a special type of soldier. "Mizem, you will not be using Hylimdem as a soldier. It''s practically a child! "Fine, fine. It''s your stray anyways. Who knows if the Lyi blood in it will send it into a frenzy again. I won''t be dying in a Hauler petshop." "Fuck off, Mizem." "Gladly." Mizem walked out of the room promptly, obvious contempt for the researchers flashing in his eyes. After his departure, the atmosphere in the room clearly lightened as the researchers took another glance into Hylimdem''s room. They had a feeling that their work on this creature, that was much like them, had just started. Chapter 2 - Espiology "Unsui''ahm dita, Dransis!" "These voices again..." "Tresh''oalna un? Un kiolama hasioma''tolo! "They sound..." "Tondlo ahi!" "Like they''re about to fight..." "Uno oalai ahrik, Hylimdem! Tondlo uhmo undeta holiaco! Esp-" And once more, the words cut out as the bright lights of Hylimdem''s room shone into its eyes. Laid on its back, it rested the back of its hand on its forehead, squinting at the lights as it tried to remember the meanings of the words in its head. But nothing came to it, just further layers of confusion on top of the many mysteries it already had to deal with. Atleast it had gleaned a name for itself, though it still didn''t understand why it kept shivering... "Looks like you''re awake Hylimdem. You sure need alot of sleep" The voice rang out through the room from its corners without warning, to which Hylimdem stood and swung its head around almost instantly, an alert expression on its face. "There''s those fast reactions. Calm yourself, it''s just Hovi, I''m talking to you remotely. Take a look in the corner of the roof above the door for me, will you?" For a brief moment, Hylimdem stood still, confused on what to do. It eventually decided to listen and looked in said corner, and sure enough... a white box with a number of little black dots on it. It let out a sigh, "That''s what that box does? It talks to me? For you?" "Well... technically? Anyways, would you be okay if we run a little test? We need to see your reaction to Magic before we take you out that room." "Do I have a choice?" "Nooootttt really. Head down, please."
Another sigh rang out in the room in response to Hovi, who was sat just a few metres away from Hylimdem in the side-room. She had a dopey smile on her face, taking a look at Gezo, a male researcher who looked very similar to her. "Seems its getting a personality, right Gee?" "It did wake up 3 minutes ago Vi, cut it some slack." "But it sounds like me! It''s taking after me!" "It sounds nothing like you. Its known you for 7 hours." "Sounds everything like me, dunce. Oh, right, could you fire the Magic vents? It''d be really sad if it couldn''t deal with atmospheric Magic." "Isn''t it made o- nevermind, nevermind. Standard procedure, I get it. Give it a countdown, please." "On it. - Right, Hylimdem, on three."
Hylimdem, contrary to the previous request, looked upwards at the speaking box again, "What do you mean on three?" "One, two, head down, three!" On Hovi''s voice hitting three, Hylimdem felt a heavy air fall, its hair flying about in the raging winds the air brought about. Dots and lines of myriad colours flew around it, seemingly refusing to get close, whilst its body started to shiver uncontrollably. At this moment, it figured out what had been causing the shivers throughout its body - Magic, raw and unfiltered, seeping through the walls as people walked by outside. It had to shut its eyes as the wind dove into the room directly from the vent it had been looking at. No wonder the Anshoran had told it to look down... "How do you feel, Hylimdem?" "I-I''m okay, but th-the colours and shivers a-are a bit much."
"Shivers and colours, huh? - Gee, turn it off. Need to note that down." "Atmosphere test''s off. Colours I get, but shivers are new." "Seems like a genetic response, from its past as a Lyi. Naturally Hylimdem would be sensitive to Magic, though as a danger-sense now compared to the life-radar it had as a Lyi." "That''s interesting. Anyways, results?" "It''s capable of withstanding atmospheric pressure, so we can let it out to meet others besides me anytime. Though, I wouldn''t let it outside, not just yet." "You have a soft-spot, Vi." "Maybe, but remember that its young, too. Send for the tailors, please. Get them to lead it in here, aswell." Hovi took a look at Hylimdem, a tender look in her eyes. She really couldn''t let it outside as much as she wanted to, what with the military wandering around the outer facility to keep an eye on the rabid wildlife from the Lyi attack. Watching as the tailors led the creature out of its room for the first time, she had many thoughts swirling through her head, almost all referring to what would happen should its Lyi heritage act up. Pushing a button to hide the window into Hylimdem''s room, replacing it with an image of a snowy forest, she spun around to face the door.
Hylimdem''s eyes fluttered as the two new Anshorans hauled it to a different room. As the door opened it saw Hovi and another Anshoran that looked distinctly similar to her, though more bulky and with significantly shorter hair. It saw a great landscape past them, though it could somehow tell it was slightly off- afterall, it had just walked from that direction. It paid no mind, however, as it focused more on the Anshorans. Right on cue, Hovi stood up to meet Hylimdem, "So, Hylimdem, would you say hi my brother Gee over there?" "Hi, Gee." "It''s Gezo, Hylimdem. And you best remember that too when we''re at work, Hovi." "Right, right, Gezo. Same thing. That aside, what did you see in the Magic winds? What colours, specifically?" "I saw... gold and white dots, red and green lines... but that''s it." "Lines, huh? The dots are normal, that''d be Lightning and Force, but lines... haven''t heard of that this side of the border atleast. Might be more on it at Poenticivt." Hovi patted Hylimdem''s shoulders, looking the creature in its eyes, "But, my little bird, that''s of no matter for now. Seeing as you''re similar enough to us, and able to speak, me and Gee ov-" "Gezo." "Me and Gezo. We''ve taken the liberty to get you an identity. We... didn''t exactly have much in the sex department, considering you''re... blank. So we''ve marked you down as female based on appearances alone. Hopefully that ends up being right, if we find another of your kind. Anyways, anyways, you''re officially Hylimdem Avia, a female Espi. Avia from the wings, it means Bird, and Espi from your Magical nature, meaning... Magic. It''s a generic term from the East, but we felt it was fitting. Sound about right?" "Avia and Espi... it sounds right. This means I am a ''she'' then, correct?" "Its our best guess. I know it sounds a bit silly to you, but it is important for us to establish that. Right, pop on those clothes the tailors prepped for you, I''d like to bring you out for a little." "You sure about that, Hovi?" "Relax Gee, I''m not bringing her outside." "But you just sa-" Hylimdem glanced over her shoulder at the two tailors behind her whilst Gezo and Hovi started to argue with one another. Both were holding dark pieces of attire, one for the top half and one for the bottom. Ignoring the voices in the room, she let the tailors dress her; though, they clearly had a bit of trouble getting the fabric around her wings. It took a minute, not that she minded, before she was finally dressed in the warm, black fur coat with fairly small holes for her wings. She definitely felt much less cold than before, and even her shivers subsided slightly. Maybe they were from the cold. She took a moment to get used to the feeling of moving around in the attire, turning to the arguing Anshorans again after she was done, Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!"You said we were going to go somewhere?" "And that''s why biology is a cr- Oh, Hylimdem, sorry! Sorry, we forgot you were there, right Gee?" "Blasted psychotic Espiologist, you started that." "Oh lay off it, you hellion. With me, Hylimdem, we have a library to explore." Hovi grabbed the clearly confused Espi, dragging her out of the room to leave behind a seething Gezo, who reached out to a keyboard and started typing furiously.
Much to the south of where this scene was happening, a grandiose city with buildings of marble and streets of amethyst hung imposingly in the sky over the landscape, its shadow hiding another of its ilk nestled in the mountains beneath it. Countless Anshorans wandered throughout the streets, some dressed in plainclothes or faded robes in the city below, others dressed in silky mantles and golden armours in the city above. At the peaks of the four cardinal directions in the lower city, four towers stood whose ceilings just barely reached the lowest low of the city hanging in the sky. Chains of an unusual translucent blue hung from the towers to anchor the sky-city, and from the centre of it all rose a fountain bearing water of myriad hues, bathing the landscape around it in an incandescent kaleidoscope of colour. This was Poenticivt, the home of Espiology and birthplace of Magic on Anshora. Its steadfast ward conjured from the fountain at the centre of the city shielded the locale from any threat, or ally, that dared to attempt enter the city without authorization. In the lowest halls of the sky city, where the four tower''s chains met, three Anshorans were having a vivid exchange with one another. "We cannot allow these Lyi attacks to continue! Silah of the North has fallen now, a key meeting point for our Ice type Mages! Who''ll keep Riach in check now, the Northern Survival Troupe? They can barely protect themselves from it, let alone the entire North!" The blonde-haired female Anshoran of the group roared, a clear hatred in the blue eyes that could be seen through a slit in her luminous silver armour. A compass on her helmet had an arrow pointing to the boldly engraved N. "Calm yourself, North Custodian. I''ve heard tell from NET that their mother organization seems to have found the next step in the bleedin'' unrester life-cycle. It''s been established as passive, praise the twins." A male Anshoran spoke this time, draped in long, black robes that were a match for his hair, almost entirely composed of feathers from a raven-like creature; though clearly it came from a beast of much greater stature. He bore a compass engraved into his cheek, with an arrow pointed towards the E. Presumably, this would be the East Custodian. "Ah, the NST''s prime Espiologist''s little pet, correct? Atleast that''s how... Mizem, was his name? How he reported it, and he did not seem particularly keen on Magical Beasts being seen as equal to us, with that disdainful look he had in our streets." The last of the group spoke, of much shorter stature than the other two. He bore brown hair and green eyes, and wore the same style of clothes that a member of the lower city commonfolk would. On the back of his neck, a compass tattooed with no particular direction laid, having no indication of the Custodian he may be. "She is called Hylimdem, as Gezo has reported it! She was the original purpose of this meeting, besides. Gezo has just reported in that she saw lines in the atmospheric Magic, which is certainly most unusual. Your thoughts, Arch-Custodian?" "Conceptual Magic then. An interesting talent to have, though it''s never been truly brought to fruition. We can just write it off as Magic hypersensitivity, that type of Magic is something the third moon does not let us be privy to." "Y''reckon we should just blow up the bastard moon? I''d love to see that Magic come to fruition!" "East, you know we''ve tried that before. It may be a glass polygon rather than an igneous orb, but its still a moon! It''s been around for nearly eighty-thousand triplet cycles, besides." "Cease, the both of you. Its rare enough that we gain a Lightning sensitive Mage among our ranks, let us just be happy with that." The Eastern Custodian clicked his tongue, muttering something under his breath before walking out of the room with faint yellow winds emanating from the bottom of his feet. He was clearly the type to anger easily. "Who knows if she''ll want to join us, Arch-Custodian? I imagine she feels quite at home in the North by now, not that I blame her." "We''re still missing a Western and Southern Custodian, Shae. The West direly needs a new Lightning Mage, besides. Do you remember how many we have amongst our ranks?" "None. We have hundreds of Ice Mages for the North, Wind Mages for the East, and every Mage is a Force Mage for the centre. It''s just Western Lightning and Southern Water that we lack, though we Ice Mages can stand in for Water temporarily." The two looked out to the Southern and Western towers, which had a much weaker shine to them as compared to the incandescent fountain in the centre, the icy-blue hue of the North and the washed yellow of the East. A faint melancholy could be seen on the face of the Arch-Custodian, though nothing could be gleaned through the sturdy helmet that Shae of the North wore. "We should let her grow in her own time. Once she''s a Sixth-stage, reach out to her, would you? She won''t be useful to us until that point." "Not an Eighth-stage?" "She''s a Magical Beast, Shae. Her Sixth is more like our Ninth, and considering her heritage, maybe even closer to the likes of a newly-minted Archmage. Besides, there''s no possibility of her being a Circuited Mage, so she''ll have greater strength than the rest of us in the first place." "Here''s hoping, Arch-Custodian. I''ve heard Bea is getting restless." "I''ll deal with the old fruitbat should it cause trouble. Archbeasts may die faster to their own element more than any other, but an old Force Archmage like me should be able to handle one of their ilk. If I can keep a Twinspawn like Hidiria sealed for 70 years, I can rip their ilk to shreds in a day."
Before Hylimdem''s eyes, an imposing library unfolded, the countless books on its shelves bearing down on her like some eerie beast. Almost all of them emitted a small gust of wind, and she could see some gathering those unusual white and gold dots that she had seen earlier. Though, she didn''t see this scene for long, as Hovi ferried her into a side-room filled to the brim with much more ordinary books. As if a weight was lifted off her shoulders, Hylimdem found herself able to walk much more easily in this room, especially as compared to the mammoth room from before. It didn''t take long for Hovi to find a table for her, and to sit her down. "I thought we should let you in on a few things you should watch out for when you eventually leave our shelter. I''m not sure if you can read, so I''ll do it for you for now, but we have an important book here for you, if you''d just give me a moment to find it." A much more serious expression was on the woman''s face now, which confused Hylimdem. Was it not just a book? Though, the confusion faded as Hovi pulled a very thin book from the tallest shelf, its black cover somehow radiating an aura of hatred despite its inanimate nature. "This is a journal written by a Mage, named Choho, from an age past, before the era of the Glass Moon and the extinction of the old Anshorans that it wrought. He used Darkness magic, something that''s been long out of our grasp, and that''s what''s causing the abhorrent ambiance around it. It''s called ''Choho''s Hunt'', and as you can probably imagine, it''s related to you." "In what way?" "A creature much similar to you is described in it, and I thought we may be able to glean some things from it. Though, we still don''t understand most the journal. There is one page written in Kingslanguage, fortunately it is the start." "Please, read." As Hovi opened the book, the dark air around the book crystallized into an unusual throne with a feather laid on top. Laying the book against the throne, Hovi began the short read of Choho''s Hunt. "Today is the seventy-forth day in the third cycle of the twin moons. I have tracked the Lyi to its destination, a lower city of our south-western continent. I can see the fires from here, and it looks like the nearby mountain manor has been crushed too, I estimate seventy, maybe seventy-five thousand deaths. I plan on waiting out the Lyi''s death, their strength never ceases to amaze. Three days have passed, and the Lyi is most certainly dead. I found an unusual creature dead at the height of the Betel, it is similar to us Anshorans. It possesses a sexless body, and has sharp ears with holes in both. Besides that, it seems to have no special features. Perhaps this is the next stage in a Lyi''s life and something went wrong. Mayhaps burning the Betel interrupted it? I have waited by the corpse for seven days now, and no changes have occurred. It is truly dead, and no Lyi is emerging from the corpse. Despite this, it shows no sign of rotting, and no beast dares approach the corpse. This is a surprising result, at the very least. I could not suppress my curiosity. I cast Void''s Stolen Memories, and have seen through the eyes of the Lyi. Their mind... it is pure ire, spite and rage. Like a feral beast that can only think of its prey. And this language... it rang through my head constantly, to the point I can understand it. It is far more refined than our Kingslanguage. I shall attempt to pen it from here." Ending her reading there, Hovi closed the book, the throne dissipating as quickly as it arrived. Hovi had a dejected expression, looking directly at Hylimdem, who seemed to be staring into space. It didn''t take long for her to snap out of it, however, and she met Hovi''s gaze dead-on. "What is this Betel that Choho described?" Hovi''s expression moved to a more rosy look, betraying her elation at Hylimdem. She had expected the Espi to come out of that much more depressed, seeing as the birth of their species came at such a price and the girl seemed to be distinctly less murderous than her old form. "The Betel is a mound of every corpse that a Lyi creates when it has finished its slaughter. It dies on top of the Betel, which in time leads to the disintegration of the Betel itself and the surrounding landscape, molding out a blank field who''s size is dependent on the amount dead. We call it a localized extinction event, or LEEs for short. Lyi attacks are usually discovered after this happens, though, so we never knew too much about it. Turns out that your people are the very mid-point of these LEEs, but Lyi attacks happen once every decade at best. We won''t be finding another you for a while yet, little bird. Betels aren''t exclusive to Lyi, though, most predators that favor eradication have a tendency to make them Old tradition is to burn them when we see them, though you need a Mage for that." "I see..." The Espi stood up, a raw look of pure rage on her face. Around her, very light winds moved the Magical particles surrounding Choho''s Hunt nearer to her, though they weren''t strong enough to detach them from the book. Even the particles in the main library, with countless more books wreathed in them, attempted to move closer to her body. The effect was not strong enough to see, but it made the Espi feel far more dreadful. "And how, Hovi, do I annihilate these beasts?"